Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade donate $200,000 to ‘March For Our Lives’

Gabrielle Union (L) and Dwyane Wade donated $200,000 to help send students to the March For Our Lives gun control rally in Washington D.C. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

By
Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post

Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union may not be able to join students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and other schools for their “March For Our Lives” walk next week in Washington, D.C., but the celebrity couple is making sure others will have that chance.

Wade, who has been diligent in his support for the students and school where 14 students and three adults were killed by a gunman on Feb. 14, sent a message Saturday on Twitter asking his fellow NBA players to join in donating to help send students to Washington. “Every dollar counts! Who else is in?” he wrote.

Spoke to my brother @carmeloanthony & we're standing w/ students from MSD. We both come from communities where gun violence is an every day occurence. Enough is Enough! On March 24th, students across the country will be in DC and in their local cities to #MarchForOurLives

They need our help! I'm asking my NBA fam to join us in raising money to send kids from underserved communities to March….@gabunion and I will start w/$200K for Chicago. every dollar counts! Who else is in?? Or donate here: https://t.co/pu10Gp76on#GetTheBallRollin

Wade has visited Stoneman Douglas and spent time with the parents of Joaquin Oliver after the parents of the 17-year-old, who was killed during the attack, revealed their son was buried wearing a Wade Heat jersey.

“They are well-prepared and well-aware of what they need to do and what they want to do and the change they want to see,” Wade said about his March 10 trip to school. It was the first full day of classes since the shooting.

“It’s great. It’s great to hear,” Wade said. “It’s great to see that, because I come from a community in Chicago where our youth are getting killed daily and don’t have the same voice, don’t have the same light on them that Parkland has. These kids understand what they have, and they’re taking other kids with them.

“I’m excited about getting behind and supporting them.”

Wade’s mother, Jolinda, and his sister, Tragil, met and spoke with Joaquin’s parents, Manuel and Patricia, at their Coral Springs, Florida, home. Patricia, Manuel and their daughter, Andrea, were guests of Wade’s at the Heat’s game against the Detroit Pistons on March 3 in Miami.

Wade presented the family with a Heat Vice jersey and custom-made sneakers after the game.